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Premium number scams - what we’re doing

m_a_v

Update, 21 Feb 2018

Hi all,

It's with a little sadness that I'm having to resurrect this thread - we've noticed that scam calls of this type are back on the rise. If you receive a missed call from a number you don't recognise, please consider that it could be part of a scam like this, and that calling back could be very expensive with no benefit to you.

The current spate of activity we're seeing are from number that mostly begin with 00223, and rather than being premium rate calls, they're directing to an international number that can costyou more than you might expect. We're going to do what work we can to block these number ranges from being called, but it's possible for this scam to be operated from any number or area, so please be wary if you see one of these missed calls appear on your phone.

Thanks,Will

Original post, May 2016:

Hi everyone, I’m Mark - you may remember me from a crazy charity challenge I did 2 years ago. As I mentioned in there, I work in our finance team, and one of our most important responsibilities is to stay on top of and cut down on fraud. One of the things that came to my attention recently, and that you may have read about elsewhere, is a scam that’s been going round on UK mobile networks that takes money from your account unfairly. I wanted to fill you in on a few things we’ve done to protect you.

Firstly, a little detail - this scam has relied on members of the public receiving a missed call from a premium number. This will typically be a missed call with no voicemail or information about the call. The scammers are hoping that the person who has received the call makes a return call to the number; this will typically be a premium charge call or an advertising channel, which then charges quite a lot of money for the call. This is known as a Wangiri scam.

Your experience is of paramount importance at giffgaff, and we are continually monitoring and understanding these type of scams. In this case, the number ranges that have been identified to be taking part in this scam have been blocked on the giffgaff network, and members who have made calls to these numbers since 1st February 2016 will have the charge for the call recredited. If you’ve been directly affected, we’ll let you know directly in the next couple of days explaining, and you’ll see the credit on your account by the middle of the first week of June 2016.

As always, even if you haven’t been affected, we recommend prevention rather than cure - if you have a missed call from a number you don’t recognise, particularly any premium numbers, think twice before calling back. We’ll continue to monitor for dodgy things like this in the future to keep you safe, and if you have any questions, bob them in this thread and I’ll do my best to answer where I can.

richybhoy36

m_a_v Hi Will thanks for the info , it's good to know that giffgaff are working to help our members :-)

mynamessam2020

Well done Mark it's great to know giffgaff has our backs covered from these unfair scanners. Keep up the good work &#128578

nerakb

Brilliant step in the right direction and fantastic advice about not calling the number back,if a member doesn't recognise the number concerned. Just a quick question:-Will giffgaff now take this one step further and deal with scam premium rate text messages some members are receiving?

nev123nev

can you block all premium numbers to my phone

lgl20

Its great to see things are happening over this, thought would be great to block all premium texts and calls - the majority of people wouldnt use them as is

br1anst0rm

I am impressed that giffgaff are taking a vigorous and proactive approach to this problem.

It seems that constant vigilance is necessary: the scammers are always looking for new ways to get access to people and rip them off.

@m_a_v is right to remind people to think carefully before calling back a number they don't recognise. Prevention is indeed better - and less hassle - than cure.

brulaw

Hi Mark , nice to see you making a post , Thank you for the information / warning / advice .... I'ts good to know that giffgaff ( and yourself ) are aware of and dealing with this kind of thing

exmember-2019-4735772

as these are constantly popping up in H&S with gg customers complaining gg have taken £4.50 and they don't understand why

how about blocking these 5 digit text numbers as well?

t_will

Hey folks, just to let you know - as it's nearing the end of the month, Mark is quite busy, so may not be able to reply to your questions immediately, but we've got some time scheduled in a couple of hours to sit down together and reply to a few all in one go.

If you subscribe to the thread you'll get a notification for each new reply, or you can just check back in at the end of the day. Cheers 🙂

shazcunno26

ray2

premierphotosuk

Thanks guys it's good to know that giffgaff have our back regarding this issue, all I can say is that it will put a lot of giffgaffers minds at rest. I for one never phone numbers back that I don't know, but it's great for this forewarned information. Thanks.. I know it will be a life saver for many giffgaff Members.

ian011

For missed calls from premium rate numbers starting 070, 084, 087 or 09, never call the number back. It is unlikely that you wanted to hear from or speak to whoever is on the other end of the line and it will be costing you money to find that fact out.

An increasing number of people are also being caught out by third-party premium rate 'call connection service' scam websites. These use a wide variety of 084, 087 or 09 numbers. A warning about how these barely-legal services operate is posted here.

mcilwraith

i never call any of these numbers back but its a great post for any member to read and heed

jtemplar

How refreshing to see a mobile network proactively taking action to protect its customers and communicating that to them. 🙂

richmondmike

m_a_v

Brilliant step in the right direction @m_a_v and fantastic advice about not calling the number back,if a member doesn't recognise the number concerned.

Just a quick question:-

Will giffgaff now take this one step further and deal with scam premium rate text messages some members are receiving?

Unfortunately, we are only able to block numbers/number ranges for texts and/or calls for outbound activity. This means that should you attempt to make a call to one of these numbers it will not work and you won't be charged. We are unable to block inbound activity from these ranges. If you do receive a text from a premium number and are charged for something you are not aware of, you can report this via Phonepay Plus.

nev123nev wrote:

can you block all premium numbers to my phone

As mentioned we are unable to block inbound activity, and indeed some premium numbers do have a use which members would like to have access to.

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback, I hope you all have an enjoyable bank holiday weekend.

t_will

lgl20 wrote:

Its great to see things are happening over this, thought would be great to block all premium texts and calls - the majority of people wouldnt use them as is

I can field this one - you'd be surprised how often people use these kinds of services, I think. Blocking them all would mean people couldn't use those services at all, and while it might be an acceptable sacrifice for some people, for others, it's something they really enjoy. Not all premium services are scams, after all.

Either way, if it's something you want to happen, it's worth chatting about in Contribute and seeing if there's an Idea that would protect members and be a good compromise - just post a thread. 🙂

flambatious

Thats great news, and good advice never call a number back you dont recognise.

Let's face it,.... if it was important people will always leave a message